Smelter-furnace.



W. M. NESBIT & E. PIKE.

SMELTER FURNACE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 7, 1911.

1,027,882, I PatntedMay28, 1912.

3 SHBETB-SHEET 1.

- WITNESSES 11 ITO/FIVE Y8 W. M. NESBIT & E. PIKE.

SMELTER FURNACE. APPLIUATION FILED JULY 7, 1911.

1,027,882, Patented May 28, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l I Byjzizz/ard j he ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60.. WASHINGTON. D.c.

WITNESSES W. M. NESBIT & E. PIKE.

SMELTER FURNACE. APPLICATION IILEDIJULI'I, 1911.

1,027,882. Patented May 28, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cu., WASHINGTON, D. c.

WATSON MARSHALL NESBIT AND EDWARD PIKE, OF EUREKA, UTAH.

SMELTER-FURNAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28,1912.

Application filed July 7, 1911. Serial No. 637,301.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, IVATsoN M. Nissan and EDWARD PIKE, both citizens ofthe- United States, and residents of Eureka, in the county of Juab andState of Utah, have invented a new and Improved Smelter-Furnace, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to metallurgy, and its object is to provide a newand improved smelter furnace for the reduction of metalbearing ores, andarranged to produce an intense heat for the quick and economicalreduction of all kinds of ores, even very refractory ores, to preventaccretions on the inner surface of the wall of the stack and to insure acomplete combustion ofthe fuel and the uniform distribution of the heatthrough the charge.

For the purpose mentioned, use is made of a stack provided in the wallwith inlets below the smelting zone, and means for producing a centralsuction in the top of the stack so that air, pulverized coal, coke orcharcoal, or liquid or gaseous fuel is drawn through the said inletsinto the stack and the products of combustion are drawn out of thestack.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in

I which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts inall the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the smelter furnace, part being in section;Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same, on the line 22 of Fig.1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged face view of one of the flat chambers on theoutside of the stack with the door of the chamber open; Fig. 4 is anenlarged sectional plan view of the stack on the line t4 of Fig. 2; Fig.5 is a cross section of the charging device, the section being on theline 5-5 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section throughone of the air supply ducts.

The stack A of the smelter furnace is built of brick or other suitablematerial, of suitable dimensions and shape, in cross section, and thebottom of the stack A is provided with the usual crucible A, from whichleads a tap and slag pipe A for drawing off the molten metal and slag.The stack A is preferably mounted on a supporting plate B held onstandards B set on a suitable foundation, as indicated in Fig. 2. Thetop A of the stack A is provided at its center with an outlet flue Cconnecting with one end of a heating chamber D, provided at its otherend with a line E leading to an exhaust fan F or similar machine forproduclng a suction in the heating chamber D and by way of the flue G inthe upper portion of the stack A, so that the products of combustionarising from the burning fuel in the stack A are drawn out of the sameand pass through the heating chamber D. The fan F has its outlet pipe Fdischarging into the water contained in a suitable tank G so that theproducts of combustion are discharged into the water, to be condensedand any fine particles of metal carried along with the products ofcombustion and precipitated in the tank G to be ultimately recovered byany suitable process.

The wall of the stack A is provided im mediately below the smelting zoneand above the crucible A with inlets A opening into the lower ends offlat chambers I-I attached to the outside of the wall of the stack A,the chambers H being provided at their lower ends with doors II' havingpeep holes H and the upper ends H of the chambers H are contracted, andthe contracted end of each chamber H is connected with a supply pipe Ipassing through the wall of the stack A to the inside thereof to thenextend upwardly within the upper portion of the stack A, to finally passout through the top A and into and through the heating chamber D asplainly indicated in the drawings. The outer ends of the pipes I areprovided with funnels I for the ready entrance of air into the pipes I.As the latter extend through the heating chamber D, the pipes and theair passing through the same are heated, the air and the pipes extendingwith in the upper portion of the stack A being highly heated and theheated air finally passes into and through the flat chambers H and byway of the inlets A into the lower end of the stack A to then risethrough the charge to supply the latter with highly heated oxygen toinsure a complete combustion of the fuel in the charge. A

fluid fuel pipe J connected with an overthat the oil, gas or other fluidfuel can be fed into the pipes I to be vaporized and passed through thechambers II and inlets A into the lower end of the stack A to augmentthe fuel contained in the charge. Pipes J 2 are connected with the pipesI adjacent the funnels I, and the said pipes J 2 are connected with thebreeching of a boiler; so that the escape heat, smoke and gases canreadily pass into the pipes I and conducted by way of the chambers H andthe inlets A into the lower end of the stack A. The pipes I, J, J and Jare provided with suitable valves for controlling the flow of the fluidsthrough the pipes. The pipes I are also connected within the heatingchamber D with branch pipes K leading to a tank L, preferably mounted ontop of the heating chamber D and containing water, so that water ispassed into the pipes I to be converted into dry steam by the heatwithin the chamber D, and the steam is passed by way of the chambers Hand inlets A into the lower end of the stack A.

When it is desired to feed solid fuel, such as pulverized coal, coke,charcoal or the like into the stack, the pipes I are correspondinglyenlarged, and suitable means are employed for filling the solid fuelinto the pipes I. It is understood that the pipes I may be used forconducting heated air only, or liquid, solid or gaseous fuel or water tobe converted into dry steam, according to the nature of the ores to bereduced.

It is understood that when the smelter furnace is in use, the suctionproduced in the upper end of the stack A causes a ready inflow of theair or fuel by way of the pipes I and chambers I-I into the lower end ofthe stack, to then pass through the charge and thereby insure theformation of an intense heat with a view for quick reduction of themetal-bearing ores.

The charge is passed into the stack A from a charging platform N,preferably level with the top A of the stack A, and from the chargingplatform N leads a segmental charging duct 0 in. a. downward and inwarddirection to pass through the wall of the stack A a distance below thetop A thereof, as plainly indicated in Fig. 2. The duct 0 is providedwith two charging gates P and P provided with suitable racks P P in meshwith pinions P*, P secured on shafts Q, Q, journaled in suitablebearings arranged on the platform N. The shafts Q, Q are provided withhand wheels Q Q under the control of the operator for inclependentlyopening and closing the gates P and P. hen it is desired to charge thestack A, the gate P is raised into an open position by turning the handwheel Q? correspondingly, and then the charge is shoveled from theplatform N into the duct 0, down which the charge passes until itreaches the closed gate P. The gate P is now closed and the gate P isopened, so that the charge now continues its journey through the duct 0to finally dropinto the stack A. When it is again recharged the gate Pis closed and the gate P is opened, and the above-described operation isrepeated. Itwill be noticed that by the arrangement described theatmospheric air is prevented from passing through the charging duct 0into the stack A during the charging operation.

Air supply ducts R extend through the top A of the stack A down alongthe inner faces of the wall of the stack, the lower ends of the ducts Rterminating at or about the level of the top of the entrance of thecharging duct 0 into the stack A, as indicated in Fig. 2. The upperouter ends of the ducts R are provided with doors R to regulate theamount of air admitted to the ducts R by opening the doors R more orless. The air ducts R gradually widen from the top downward to allow theair as it becomes heated during its descent to expand. The inner wallsof the ducts R are preferably extended somewhat below the outer walls ofthe chambers as particularly shown in Fig. 6 to prevent particles of thecharge from entering the ducts and clogging the same. By the arrangementdescribed air is passed directly into the stack A along the inner sidesof the walls of the stack immediately above the charge so thatsuificient oxygen is supplied to the product-s of combustion arisingfrom the burning fuel in the stack to cause a complete combustion in thetop portion of the stack and at the same time the inner face of the wallof the stack is kept free and clear of accretions, and hence the stackis not liable to clog up.

By the arrangement described a quick smelting of the ores isaccomplished with a comparatively small amount of fuel, owing to thefact that a large amount of air is supplied above and below the chargeto insure complete combustion of the fuel.- It will also be noticed thatby drawing the products of combustion centrally out of the stack by theaction of the fan F, the air, steam or liquid or other fuel entering thestack at the inlets A is drawn uniformly through the charge, to insure acomplete burning of all the fuel thereby leaving no black or .unconsumedportions of fuel in the stack.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent:

1. A smelter furnace, comprising a stack provided in its wall below thesmelting zone with inlets, a heating chamber communicating with theupper end of the stack, supply pipes passing through the said heatingchamber and leading to the said inlets, means for producing a suction inthe said heating chamber and in the upper portion of the said stack andducts leading through wardly along the stack walls to open into thestack above the charge.

2. A smelter furnace, comprising a stac provided in its wall below thesmelting zone with inlets, a heating chamber connected with the upperend of the stack, supply pipes passing through the said heating chamberand leading to the said inlets, fluid fuel pipes connected with saidsupply pipes, hot gas pipes also connected with said supply pipes andmeans for producing a suction in the said heating chamber and in theupper portion of the said stack.

3. A smelter furnace, comprising a stack provided in its wall below thesmelting zone with inlets, a heating chamber connected with the upperend of the stack, supply pipes passing through the said heating chamberand leading to the said inlets, fluid fuel pipes connected with saidsupply pipes at points between the heating chamber and the top of thestack, and means for producing a suction in the said heating chamber andin the upper portion of the said stack.

4. A smelter furnace, comprising a stack, means for producing a suctionin the upper portion of the stack above the charge, and air supply ductspassing through the top of the stack downward and ranging along theinner faces of the stack walls to open into the stack above the charge.

5. A smelter furnace, comprising a stack, means for producing a suctionin the upper portion of the stack above the charge, and air supply ductsextending through the top of the stack downward and ranging along theinner faces of the stack walls to open into the stack above the charge,the said supply ducts increasing in width from the top downward.

means for producing a suction in the upper portion of the stack abovethe charge, air supply ducts extending through the top of the stackdownward and ranging along the inner faces of the stack walls to openinto the stack above the charge, and a segmental charging duct openingat its lower end into the stack immediately belowthe lower ends of thesaid air supply ducts.

8. A smelter furnace, comprising a stack, means for producing a suctionin the upper portion of the stack above the charge, air supply ductsextending through the top of the stack downward and ranging along theinner faces of the stack walls to open into the stack above the charge,a segmental charging duct opening at its lower end into the stackimmediately below the lower ends of the said air supply ducts, and apair of independently-operated gates in the said charging duct andspaced apart.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WVATSON MARSHALL NESBIT. EDWARD PIKE. Witnesses:

JOHN MARTIN, C. C. PARKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

I Washington, D. 0.

